1. Field of Invention
This invention in general relates to safety restraint systems and more particularly to occupant safety restraint systems for vehicles having an inflatable member secured to a seat belt.
2. Description of the Related Art
The advances in occupant safety restraint systems as found in motor vehicles, more particularly automobiles, have steadily increased in the past years. More particularly, most vehicle systems have used a combination of one or more air bags being deployed from some structural member of the vehicle along with a seat belt.
In motor vehicles such as airplanes, the occupant safety restraint systems for passengers are still based on the seat belt. The passenger makes sure that his belt is secured about him during times of take-off and landing and during air turbulence. Safety restraint systems for air crew members, while it is still based on seat belts, add various combinations of shoulder belts.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,230, entitled Lap Mounted Inflatable Bag and Method of Use was issued to Donald Lewis on Feb. 16, 1999 and assigned to Universal Propulsion Company, Inc., teaches and claims a lap mounted inflatable bag and its method of use. The system is for a seated occupant including a lap belt system and an inflatable member mounted on the lap belt and restrained by the belt when inflated. The inflatable member is sized and shaped so that one inflatable member surface functions to prevent or limit inflatable member rotation by engaging a substantial area including the occupant""s lap and seat thereunder. Another rearward surface restrains occupant""s torso movement.
It is an advantage of the present system to provide an inflatable member that operates to restrain the occupant in his seat and to decelerate the forward movement of the occupant as long as possible. This reduces and limits any impact upon any bulkhead or other similar member in front of the occupant.
It is still another advantage to apply restraining forces against the occupant""s torso, waist and thighs during the time of a sudden deceleration of the vehicle to restrain the occupant in his seat.
It is still another advantage to control the forward momentum of the occupant without endangering the occupant and resulting in leaving the occupant in a seating position in his seat after the vehicle has come to a complete stop.
It is yet still another advantage to provide a system wherein the protection provided as measured by the Head Injury Criteria, HIC, is well below presently accepted levels.
It is still another advantage of the system to include a deflation member to open the inflatable a period of time after inflation to deflate the inflatable to allow the occupant to leave the seat.
It is still another advantage to control the inflation of various sections of the inflatable for applying pressure to the occupant to push the occupant back and down into the seat.
It is another advantage of the system to appear to the vehicle occupant as little more than a slightly different seat belt with a similar buckle arrangement that the occupant has used on many previous occasions.
These and still other advantages of the present invention are found in the preferred embodiment of an inflatable air bag system for restraining an occupant in a seat during a sudden deceleration of a vehicle. The vehicle may be any land, sea or air vehicle such as an airplane, automobile or boat. The air bag has an envelope of a fabric material that is adapted to be inflated.
Attached to the envelope is a snout or fluid-receiving inlet attached for receiving inflation fluid for inflating the envelope. The inflation fluid may be any one of numerous gases depending upon certain design considerations. Of importance in the instant envelope, the inflation fluid is principally comprised of an inert gas such as argon.
The envelope in its inflated state has generally an L-shape when viewed from the side and against the occupant. The upright section of the L being a torso section that bears against the occupant""s body intermediate the waist and the neck. The base of the L is a lap section that bears against the thighs of the occupant""s body intermediate the waist and his or her knees. The width of the inflated envelope is substantially the width of the occupant and if the occupant is a slender occupant, the width is greater than the occupant is and conversely if the occupant is a very large occupant the width is less than the width of the occupant. Thus, the width of the inflated envelope is substantially the width of the occupant.
In order to strongly bear against the upper torso of the occupant, a rearwardly protruding section of the inflated envelope extends from the upright section of the L. This section operates so as to bear against the occupant in the area below the neck and above the waist of the occupant and produces an increased force to hold and if necessary, to return the occupant into contact with the seat. Of key importance is that the inflatable member does not come in contact with the face of the adult occupant.
A seat belt is securely attached to one surface of the envelope that is the outer or forward facing surface or the surface away from the occupant. The seat belt is connected to be tensioned by the inflation of the envelope. The attachment point is intermediate the upright section and the lap section thereby allowing fluid communication of the inflating fluid between the sections of the inflated envelope.
These and other objects and advantages will become apparent in the following drawings, detailed description and claims.